Venture Global (NYSE:VG) Shares Up 7.8% – What’s Next?

Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG) shot up 7.8% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $12.25 and last traded at $12.2850. 12,267,997 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 19% from the average session volume of 15,116,880 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.40.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

VG has been the subject of a number of research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Venture Global in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Venture Global from $8.00 to $10.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Venture Global in a research report on Monday, December 29th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Venture Global from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Venture Global from $9.00 to $12.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $12.90.

Venture Global Trading Up 7.2%

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $9.23 and its 200 day moving average is $9.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.24, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.87. The company has a market capitalization of $29.93 billion, a PE ratio of 14.29 and a beta of 5.70.

Venture Global (NYSE:VG) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 2nd. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $4.45 billion during the quarter. Venture Global had a net margin of 18.38% and a return on equity of 27.96%. Venture Global’s quarterly revenue was up 191.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Venture Global, Inc. will post 0.52 EPS for the current year.

Venture Global Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.018 per share. This is an increase from Venture Global’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. This represents a $0.07 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.6%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. Venture Global’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Venture Global news, CAO Sarah Blake sold 30,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.00, for a total value of $399,100.00. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Thomas Earl sold 1,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.83, for a total value of $11,830,000.00. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 2,330,700 shares of company stock valued at $26,684,100 over the last ninety days. 86.73% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Venture Global

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in VG. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Venture Global by 147.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,862,372 shares of the company’s stock worth $324,417,000 after acquiring an additional 13,620,863 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Venture Global by 82.7% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,812,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,739,000 after purchasing an additional 4,893,707 shares during the period. UBS Group AG raised its holdings in Venture Global by 520.8% in the 4th quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 6,279,598 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,827,000 after purchasing an additional 5,268,053 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Venture Global by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,101,668 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,811,000 after purchasing an additional 273,331 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Venture Global by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 4,963,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,849,000 after purchasing an additional 219,505 shares during the period.

Venture Global Company Profile

Venture Global (NYSE: VG) is a Houston-based energy company that develops, constructs and operates large-scale liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facilities in the United States. The company focuses on converting domestically produced natural gas into LNG for shipment to international markets, positioning itself as a supplier of pipeline-quality gas in vessel-ready form for global customers.

Venture Global’s core activities include site development, engineering and construction of liquefaction and export terminals, commissioning and ongoing operations of those facilities, and commercial marketing of LNG under both long-term and short-term contracts.